


Master of Puppets

by Cerberus38



Series: Huxloween (2016) [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, If you squint really really hard and tilt your head, Kylux - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, Snoke Ships It, Snoke Ships It Like FedEx
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-22 01:12:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8267278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerberus38/pseuds/Cerberus38
Summary: Kylo unwittingly discovers a strange secret about Supreme Leader Snoke. Naturally, he plans to drag Hux into it, too. (Huxloween prompt 4: Dolls)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Tried not to go too creepy here--I was actually aiming for a more humorous take and it still turned serious. Funny how writing just gets away from you like that.
> 
> Crossposted to my writing blog, cerberuswrites.tumblr.com.

Kylo didn’t actually remember arriving at his master’s citadel, though with how absolutely crazy the week had been, he wouldn’t be surprised if he’d somehow crashed into bed and missed the entire journey.

Still, he thought he would’ve at least remembered being summoned. Yet, he didn’t recall any recent conversations or messages, at least nothing that had required his physical presence. It was rare for him to be called to the Supreme Leader in person these days. He shrugged it off and started down the hall toward Snoke’s audience chamber.

The ‘citadel’ really was nothing more than a series of caverns and tunnels, located on some barren, unnamed planetoid. It was a remote location, and one that only those in the First Order’s high command knew about. Rumor had it Snoke had a few similar locations dotted around the galaxy, but Kylo had only ever been to this one. He wasn’t even sure what the planetoid was called, if it ever had a name at all. Perhaps it had long since been forgotten. All he knew were the coordinates.

Kylo had traveled along this corridor so many times he could do it in his sleep—in many ways, it was more familiar to him than the hallways of the _Finalizer_ or Starkiller Base. Snoke’s stronghold had been built within the caverns themselves, with only the floors being smoothed over and leveled out. The walls and ceilings maintained their natural roughness, quite a contrast to the stark, straight lines of the First Order’s bases and ships.

So when he saw something lying on the floor, it was enough of a distraction to cause him to stop and look down. He stooped and picked it up, dusting it off out of habit before he turned it over.

He tilted his head—the little figure in his hands was a doll, modeled after your average First Order Stormtrooper. There was even a serial number printed on a tag attached to its arm, though it didn’t match any of the known conventions the First Order used for ‘naming’ their troops. He reached up and carefully pulled the trooper’s helmet off, revealing a male with dark skin and short, black hair.

He glanced up, spotting a corridor he hadn’t noticed before in all the times he’d walked down this hall. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that the doll was laying almost right in front of it. Kylo put the little helmet back onto the doll’s head and turned, heading down this new corridor and wondering where it would lead.

Kylo was a curious individual, always had been, even as a child. Even so, he had never dared to wander the halls of Snoke’s citadel without permission. There wasn’t any explicit rule against it, but it was not a risk Kylo had taken.

The potential danger of it was both thrilling and frightening.

He wouldn’t wander for long, he reasoned to himself. Snoke could be a scary individual when angered—and Kylo didn’t want to risk getting himself lost. He had no idea how big the citadel actually was; he’d only seen bits and parts of it as was necessary for his training or meetings with Snoke. No doubt there were all sorts of rooms that Kylo knew nothing about.

The corridor seemed to go on and on, and Kylo had no idea which way he was going. At least the path seemed linear, so getting back to where he was supposed to be wouldn’t be too difficult.

He hoped.

He was starting to consider turning around when he encountered a door at the end of the passage. Like most doors in First Order structures, there was a keypad next to it, which meant he’d need a code to access it. Kylo considered using the Force, but he doubted it would work. Snoke would have the locks Force-proofed at the very least. Instead, Kylo approached the keypad, a part of him considering handling it his usual way: by cutting it to pieces.

But he decided against it in a rare show of discretion. If he cut the lock up, then it would be obvious who had come by. If he could leave it looking like it hadn’t been messed with, that would be much better. Snoke would never need to know he’d come here.

Kylo raised a hand and entered a passcode, not really expecting it to work, and not really sure how he knew what combination of numbers and letters to press. To his surprise (and yet not, at the same time), the door slid open quietly. He stared, hesitating, wondering if entering this room would somehow be like passing a point of no return.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

As soon as he entered the room, the lights came on, illuminating what looked like a large storage room or archive hall. The room was filled with rows of shelves, stretching back for a good distance Kylo couldn’t estimate. He walked between a row of shelves, looking around to see what was on them, expecting things like artifacts or holodiscs.

He was not expecting to find the absolutely large collection of dolls.

In fact, that was all that seemed to be in here—dolls that resembled soldiers and officers of the First Order. Kylo glanced at the Stormtrooper doll in his hand. The row he’d entered seemed to be filled with nothing but Stormtrooper dolls. What would Snoke want with something like that? There were regular troopers, Flametroopers, TIE Fighter pilots, walker pilots… any and all varieties of soldiers the First Order relied on to carry out its mission.

There were many more rows of Stormtroopers, all marked with similar serial numbers, no doubt identifying them as part of the collection. Kylo found the officers next, a considerably smaller group but still no less impressively sized. Every rank from ensign to general (save for Academy cadet) was represented, and now Kylo was beginning to realize these dolls weren’t as cookie-cutter as he’d initially thought.

It had been somewhat fair to think they were at first—after all, the Stormtroopers wore uniforms that hid their identities, made them all look the same. It was a different case for the officers, who needed to be recognizable to those that reported to them. Kylo was able to pick out several members of the _Finalizer_ ’s crew—Chief Petty Officer Unamo, Lieutenant Mitaka, and… hells, there was even a Captain Phasma. Like the Stormtroopers, they were all marked with serial numbers as well.

He found the generals next, and sure enough, there was a very familiar figure among them, its red hair making it stand out from the others. Kylo allowed himself a chuckle, carefully picking up the Hux doll and looking it over.

He wasn’t sure if Hux would be pleased or creeped out by the detail the doll had. The shade of his hair was eerily accurate, as far as Kylo could tell, and its expression was the same pinched frown that Hux always seemed to wear. The doll even wore a little greatcoat draped over its shoulders, just like the real Hux. And it was marked with a serial number too.

Kylo looked over the room full of dolls again, trying to figure out why in the world Snoke had a collection of dolls that seemed to be based on every single member of the First Order. They were too big to be used for visual tactics, and he’d certainly never seen them before until now. So what did Snoke do with them?

Kylo realized then just how little he knew about his master. Oh, he’d wondered several times what made the Supreme Leader tick, but no amount of meditation or casual poking around yielded any answers. Snoke had just always been there, for as long as he could remember, guiding and teaching and promising. As a teenager, he’d often asked questions, learning what boundaries not to cross pretty quickly, but he’d eventually given up when he realized he wasn’t really getting answers, just roundabout answers-that-weren’t-really-answers. It was a bit annoying to be as just in the dark as anyone else in the First Order regarding Snoke—after all, Kylo was supposed to be Snoke’s prized student.

Even worse, there was no way he could ask about it; doing so would reveal that he’d been snooping around where he most likely wasn’t supposed to. But now this discovery was going to bug him until he got to the bottom of it. There had to be a reason for all these dolls, though he couldn’t see Snoke collecting them just for the hell of it.

He wasn’t sure if the mental image of Snoke playing with some of the dolls was creepy or endearing.

At least this conundrum would keep him occupied for quite a while. Hux was sure to be pleased about that—until the inevitable frustration caused Kylo to lash out at the nearest console or wall, at any rate.

He set the Hux doll back down into its place, even reaching up to adjust its coat to make sure it lay neatly, just how Hux would like it. He stood there for a few moments, staring at the redheaded doll and wondering if maybe the man in question knew anything about this. It was quite a stretch, but a part of Kylo felt strongly compelled to bring him into the loop. After all, two heads were always better than one when it came to odd questions that needed answers.

He turned on his heel and went to leave, but something else caught his eye, a subtle gleam of metal catching the light. He turned back and headed toward the shelf where he saw it.

This shelf was much smaller and separated from the other shelves, though as far as Kylo could tell, the scattering of dolls on here belonged with the rest. There were only a few—less than a dozen. They were all dressed in similar black robes, and they all wore very familiar masks.

They were his Knights…

Kylo’s blood ran cold. If the other Knights of Ren were here, then there had to be one of himself as well.

Sure enough, he found the one of himself near the end of the shelf. Trembling hands reached out to pick it up, as if afraid something bad might happen the instant he touched it. That was how these things usually went, wasn’t it?

Nothing happened when his fingers brushed it, or when his hands carefully closed around it and lifted it off the shelf. Like all the others, it was quite detailed, down to the dings and dents in his mask. He had to wonder if Snoke—or whoever had made the doll—had used an actual swatch of fabric from his own robes to make the doll’s clothing. He didn’t dare lift the helmet off, not really wanting to see the likeness of his face staring back at him.

He flipped the doll over and found its serial number as well, cleverly hidden in a tag on the inside hem of the robe.

What was going on? Why did Snoke even have a doll of him? He wasn’t sure if he was more frightened or creeped out by the possible implications.

Before he could process this thought further, he heard a noise behind him. He whirled around, doll in one hand, his other going for his lightsaber. A familiar robed figure stood in the doorway…

 

Kylo gasped loudly as he sat up quickly, his blanket partially falling off him. He was covered in a cold sweat and breathing a bit heavily, as if something had startled him.

It took him a few moments to get his bearings… and become aware of the throbbing headache pounding behind his temples.

“Ren?” said a familiar voice somewhere off to his right. A lamp flicked on, thankfully at a low setting, but it was still enough to make him hiss and recoil, hands scrabbling for the covers. Hux was nearby, sitting up in bed, his normally neat red hair mussed about from sleep. Kylo blinked and glanced around, realizing then he was not in his own quarters. Had to be Hux’s, then, as if the fact the man himself was nearby wasn’t a big enough hint.

Question was, how had he ended up here?

“Ren!” Hux said sharply, making Kylo wince again, glaring at the general as he whipped his head over to look at him.

“What?” he snapped out, though in reality he was in no mood to be getting into it with Hux at this ungodly hour.

“I asked if you were alright,” Hux replied just as sharply, expecting an answer.

“I…” Kylo trailed off, recalling the dream a bit more vividly than he would’ve cared for. It hadn’t been particularly bad, per se, just… very strange and borderline creepy. As a Force-sensitive individual, it wasn’t all that unusual for visions to come to him in the form of dreams, though the few he’d had in the past had been very disjointed and difficult to interpret accurately. This had felt more like a continuous story, if a bit confusing. In other words, not unlike your average dream.

“I’m fine,” Kylo said, hoping he sounded a bit more confident than he really felt. Hux watched him with an eyebrow raised, as if unconvinced.

“What am I doing here?” Kylo asked, deciding to change the subject before the general decided to press further. He pulled the blanket up further, realizing he was naked from the waist up. If Hux had removed his robes, he wanted to know why.

“You don’t remember?” Hux got out of bed and disappeared into the refresher for a moment, coming back out with a small cup of water.

“If I did, I wouldn’t be asking…” Kylo huffed, taking the water when it was offered to him.

“You got drunk,” Hux started, leaning against the wall that partitioned his sleeping space from his living space. “Down at the lounge.”

“Why…?” Kylo looked confused now, though the expression didn’t last long when his hangover decided to throb painfully to remind him it was still very much there. He took a drink of the water in an effort to get it to subside, or at least distract himself from the pain.

“I don’t know why you chose to get yourself drunk,” Hux said with a wave of his hand, not really caring about the reasons one way or another. “Regardless, you decided to latch onto me for the evening, and despite my best efforts to dump your ass at your own quarters, you insisted on coming back with me instead.” Hux looked less than pleased at what he no doubt considered an imposition.

Kylo was silent for a few moments, trying to take all this in and process it, his mind sluggish to organize his thoughts neatly. He vaguely remembered the reason for the occasion—a few new officers had been added to the _Finalizer_ ’s crew, and Hux felt it was only proper to welcome them with a small party in the officers’ lounge. The general had insisted that Kylo be there as well—he was, after all, co-commander of the ship, and the Supreme Leader had insisted that he make a bit more of a presence to show as such, instead of remaining a whispered rumor in the halls. Kylo hadn’t agreed, but he wasn’t about to openly defy his master. And with Hux looking for any small offense he could use against Kylo, he’d had no choice but to attend the little party.

He’d arrived in his full outfit, and it had taken Hux only five minutes to get annoyed with him for wearing that ‘ridiculous mask,’ as he had put it. He’d ordered him to remove it, and Kylo, not in the mood to argue (had one of the hells frozen over?) had taken it off. He glanced around the room, wondering where it—and the rest of his robes—were.

“You really have a pitifully low alcohol tolerance…” Hux started, a hint of a smirk playing across his lips. He simply couldn’t resist an opportunity to rib Kylo for his lack of self-control. “You were unable to walk in a straight line, and the alcohol you’d consumed got the better of you as we were staggering back to your quarters…” To be fair, Hux hadn’t been completely sober himself, but between the two of them, Ren had been by far the worst off.

“Oh, gods…” Kylo groaned, putting his head into his hands. That explained the disgusting taste lingering in his mouth…

“…And you got rather sick. Most of it ended up in your helmet, but you still managed to get it all over yourself. And me. The clothes were a lost cause, so I had them incinerated.”

“And my helmet?” Kylo asked, dreading the answer. Hux smiled knowingly, leaving Kylo to fill in the blanks. Truth be told, he was attempting to have it cleaned, but if the smell couldn’t be eradicated, then Kylo was out of luck.

Kylo groaned again, this time flopping back onto the couch he’d been laid out on. At least Hux hadn’t left him to fend for himself on the floor…

“Listen, I have first shift in the morning,” Hux said, straightening up. “I’m going back to bed. If you get up to get anything, try not to make a mess.” Hux went back to the bed and crawled back in, reaching over to turn the lamp off, glancing over at Kylo.

“Turn it off,” Kylo said, nodding and wincing again when the motion made his head hurt. Hux flicked the switch off, plunging the room into darkness once more. Kylo laid an arm over his eyes with a soft groan, knowing sleep was going to be a lot more difficult now—between the weird dream and his headache, he seriously doubted he’d go back to sleep again tonight.

Things were quiet for several moments, and Kylo wasn’t sure if Hux had already gone back to sleep or not. He remembered now why he hated getting drunk: aside from the obvious illness and headaches, alcohol tended to have an adverse effect on his Force powers, making his senses muddled. Something as simple as sensing if someone was asleep was an impossible task at the moment.

“…Thank you, Hux…” Kylo said softly, not even sure if he’d hear. And if he did, there was no guarantee he’d respond.

“…You’re welcome…” came the careful and somewhat surprised reply. Kylo blushed and pulled the blanket up to his chin, closing his eyes.

Sleep was slow to come, but just before he slipped back into blissful unconsciousness, he was treated to a vision of a robed figure smirking as it moved two very familiar-looking dolls close to each other on the same shelf…


End file.
